Notes: Beem advances to Deutsche Bank

HARRISON, N.Y. – Rich Beem tied for seventh Sunday in The Barclays to jump from 134th to 113th in the FedEx Cup standings, making him eligible for the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston.

“I got to go next week and play just as well to get to Chicago,” said Beem, who closed with a 72 to finish at 11 under – five strokes behind winner Steve Stricker. “You know if you don't play well you're going to get eliminated.”

The top 144 in the points race were eligible for The Barclays, and the top 120 advance to the Deutsche Bank. The field will be cut to 70 for the BMW Championship in Lemont, Ill., and to 30 for the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

Doug LaBelle II was the only other player to move into the top 120, birdieing the final hole to avoid elimination. He tied for 41st to move up one spot to 120th.

Brett Quigley was sweating it, too, especially when he saw a scoreboard behind the 17th green that incorrectly projected him to finish 121st. He rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt, then birdied 18 for a 67 to make it with room to spare at 115th.

“More drama than I needed,” Quigley said. “I never felt that nervous trying to win a tournament.”

Steve Allan and Mathew Goggin dropped out of the top 120 after missing the cut. Allan began the week 119th, while Goggin was 120th.

The playoff winner will get a $10 million deferred prize.

DEUTSCHE BANK GROUPS SET: With groupings for the first two rounds of FedEx Cup events set by the standings, Westchester winner Steve Stricker will tee it up with No. 2 K.J. Choi and No. 3 Rory Sabbatini in the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Tiger Woods, fourth in the standings after skipping The Barclays, will play alongside No. 5 Phil Mickelson and No. 6 Vijay Singh.

“I think it makes it very interesting for the spectators,” Sabbatini said. “You can definitely keep your eye on the people close to you.”

Mickelson likes the system.

“I thought that was really neat,” Mickelson said. “I played with Vijay and Jim Furyk this week and that adds some excitement to the start of the week.”

No. 7 Furyk will play with Zach Johnson and Adam Scott.

BEEMER KO'S BAKER-FINCH: Rich Beem's second shot on No. 18 deflected into CBS analyst Ian Baker-Finch's face after hitting a rail behind the green, dropping him to the ground. Baker-Finch was back on his feet a little later and appeared to be OK.

“I took one for the U.S. Presidents Cup team,” Beem joked, noting that Baker-Finch will assist International captain Gary Player at the Presidents Cup.

“I think he'll be all right. Luckily, I didn't catch him on the fly. But still, to get hit by a golf ball coming that hard can't feel any good.”

The ball just missed the tournament trophy before striking the rail below the grandstand.

BIG FINISH: Mark Calcavecchia closed with consecutive 65s to tie for fourth at 12 under. He opened with a 67, but had a 75 Friday to make the cut by a stroke.

“I just lost it on Friday,” Calcavecchia said. “Bogeyed six of the last 12 and was lucky to make the cut.”

He settled for par Sunday on the par-5 18th after driving into the right rough.

“I can't believe I missed the fairway on 18. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me,” he said after finishing about an hour before the other leaders.

The 13-time tour winner used two putters this week, a belly model for short putts and a conventional putter from long distances. He dropped his 5-wood from the bag to make room for the extra putter.

“The belly's tough on the long ones. Those 40- and 50-footers, it comes out of your belly sometimes and gets hung up in your shirt. It's a disaster,” Calcavecchia said. “You can't get away with carrying two putters all the time. It depends on the course.”

He jumped from 20th to 11th in the FedEx Cup standings, almost certainly securing a spot in the Tour Championship – the series-ending event limited to the top 30.

After his second shot from a sand-filled divot finished in the fringe about 30 feet above the pin on the 352-yard dogleg left, Green's third shot rolled by the cup – on the middle tier of the three-level green – and off the putting surface.

His fourth and fifth shots also rolled back down the hill. He then hit his sixth to 41/2 feet and three-putted, using a wedge instead of his putter.

“I just kept the wedge in hand,” said Green, 54th in the FedEx Cup standings.

“It was squash there for a few shots. I don't know why they putt the pin there, but I guess they like it.”

The Australian followed the pentuple bogey with three straight birdies and also birdied Nos. 17 and 18 for a 1-under 70. He tied for 69th at 2-over 286.

HANGOVER: Hunter Mahan once again failed to break 70 the day after shooting a 62.

Mahan matched the Westchester Country Club record with his 62 on Saturday, then finished with a 76 to tie for 17th at 7 under.

The Presidents Cup captain's pick also shot 62s this summer in the Travelers Championship and Canadian Open, both in the first round. In the Travelers, he followed with rounds of 71, 67 and 65 and went on to beat Jay Williamson in a playoff for his first PGA Tour title. In Canada, the former Oklahoma State star added rounds of 74, 67 and 69 to tie for fifth.

DIVOTS: Retief Goosen followed opening 68s with two 74s to tie for 60th at even-par 284. At No. 86 in the FedEx Cup standings, the two-time U.S. Open winner is in danger of dropping out of the playoffs after the Deutsche Bank. … Winner Steve Stricker and Geoff Ogilvy were the only players with four rounds in the 60s. … The 72-hole scoring average of 70.9 was the lowest at Westchester Country Club since the tour started tracking that stat in 1983. The field averaged 70.573 Sunday.